Blog

Click here to read this informative blog post by the St. Louis Wild Ones for helpful things to consider in our fight to help Monarch populations.Continue Reading

As far as late-summer-to-fall blooming plants go, many Goldenrod species are a good choice for adding color to the landscape and food for pollinators later in the growing season. A few good species for the sunny, dry spaces include Showy Goldenrod, Rigid Goldenrod, and Cliff Goldenrod. Cliff and Showy Goldenrods can take some shade as...Continue Reading

There is much talk about getting more milkweed plants in our landscapes to support the monarch population. But milkweed supports and offers much to other pollinators as well. In this post, I am highlighting the Swamp or Marsh Milkweed plant (Asclepias incarnata). Don’t get me wrong. Adult monarchs are all about this plant and have...Continue Reading

Wasps really have a putrid reputation, many unjustifiably so. This Great Black Wasp (Sphex pensylvanicus) is one that, no doubt, can appear frightening just in its size alone at a length of 1+ inches. But these are not like the Yellow Jackets that have sent many of us running with arms flailing. These wasps are...Continue Reading

Yesterday at the Partners for Native Landscaping workshop, there was significant discussion about leaving last year’s growth & plant stalks with spent flower heads through the winter for multiple wildlife purposes. One reason is that bugs, including some of our best pollinators, use them for nesting/overwintering sites. One other, which I was tickled to see...Continue Reading

One of my favorite larger native shrubs, Hamamelis vernalis, lets us know with its mid-late winter bloom that spring is not too far away! It has either golden yellow flowers with a red center or the flowers can be more of a fiery red orange. This 6-10′ tall shrub has a pleasantly sweet fragrance in...Continue Reading